Sight for the Sightless
by Anemone Kurosaki
Summary: After sacrificing his eyesight to save Edward from the clutches of Truth and the Gate, Roy is forced to lean on others while learning to cope with the loss. Can he exist without sight in a sighted world? RoyEd.
1. Chapter 1

Sight for the Sightless

_**Disclaimer: **__Moje ime je Anemone. I'm learning Croatian, and I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist._

* * *

><p><em>Desperation emanated off of Roy Mustang. It filled the empty room in the back of his house, making the air thick and musky. Even though he was panicked, his movements were sure and precise as his fingers etched an array into the floorboards. <em>

_It had been two days, one hour and ten minutes since Lieutenant Hawkeye had come into the office and given him the news. _

_"Sir," she had said as she picked up a freshly signed stack of paperwork, "I've just received word that Alphonse Elric is back in Risembool. In his human body." Sherry eyes held happy relief, but her tone was grim._

_"What about-?" The General began, but she cut him off._

_"There hasn't been any sign of Edward, Sir." Her eyes were downcast, voice low and quivering slightly with emotion. "Alphonse was brought to the Rockbells roughly three days ago."_

_His eyes had gone wide, fingers snapping the pen in his hand into a broken mess of plastic and ink. He knew that, to get Al's body back, Ed had sacrificed himself. Because Ed was selfless. The rest of the day was spent making preparations._

_It had now been five days, ten hours and thirty-two minutes since Roy had last seen Edward Elric._

_Now, here he was, drawing an array so similar to the one he had seen smeared with blood in the Elrics' basement so long ago. He finished the last piece to the complex circle, offering pleas to whatever higher power was out there, and stepped to the edge of the white outline._

_The instant his palms touched the floor, Roy felt the swirl of alchemic energy. Rays of yellow and blue light filled the room, enveloping him. Coal eyes widened as a giant eye blinked out of the center of the array, shooting out little black hands from its pupil._

_Grabby, greedy little fingers tugged at his long-sleeved black shirt and dark trousers. Roy didn't resist as he was pulled into the iris. _

_"Well, well, what do we have here?" _

_The hands pulled Roy to face a white humanoid form. He was surrounded by a blindingly white mist which swirled around two stone doors. Wonderstruck for an instant, all he could do was absorb his surroundings._

_"Come now, Alchemist, I know you can speak." The thing said._

_Roy snapped to awareness, straightening his posture and summoning all his authority. "I don't really care who or what you are-." _

_"I go by many names," the thing said, completely ignoring Roy. "I am the Universe. I am One. I am All. I am Truth." _

_'_Well, it does make it easier if I have something to call it_,' Roy thought. _

_He continued on as if Truth hadn't interrupted. "You have something I want."_

_Truth scoffed. "Now that's just silly. What could I possibly have?"_

_"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." Roy's voice was cold, eyes hard, as he demanded, "Return him."_

_"Oh, him," Truth gave a dismissive shrug. "I'm afraid I can't do that. He paid the price. Equivalent Exchange. Surely you can understand that." _

_Roy Mustang wanted nothing more than to punch the white form in the face. Instead, he clenched his fists at his sides and, with a calm voice, said, "Name your price."_

_A wide grin crawled across Truth's lips. A small chuckle bubbled up in its throat as it stepped closer to the black-haired man._

A slight shift of the mattress and tug of blankets pulled Roy from a vivid dream. He had dreamed of That Day. The day he had pulled Edward from beyond the Gate and brought him back to Amestris – back to him – where he belonged. Those memories often plagued him on rainy nights such as the previous one.

He rolled from his back onto his side, not yet ready to start the day, and pulled the cause of his disrupted slumber to him.

"Mmm, too early." Edward's voice was muffled by a pillow.

Roy said nothing, just burrowed his nose into Ed's soft hair, smelling apple shampoo and the tang of sweat and late-night sex. He heaved a contented sigh and tugged the blankets tighter around them, keeping his eyes closed.

Slowly, his fingers dragged through Edward's hair, down his neck and along his spine. This action was repeated several times before an irritated automail hand slapped him away.

"Quit it. Sleeping," Edward grumbled, clearly not a morning person.

Roy smirked, then moved his nose from those silky locks, tilting his head back. He steeled himself for the onslaught of sunlight that was pouring in from the window. He could feel its warmth, and he knew that it was just biding its time, waiting for him to open his eyes.

Slowly, his eyes slid open.

His face scrunched in a bewildered expression. "What time is it, Ed?" He asked, poking the younger male in the ribs when he received a mumble of profanities.

Edward shifted, pulling himself into a half-sitting position. "Eight in the morning. Who the _fuck_ gets up at eight in the _fucking_ morning?"

"Sane people, usually." Roy murmured, mind boggling. He knew the sun was up. He could _feel_ its warmth coiling around him like a cobra around its prey. "Are the curtains drawn?" He asked, knowing that, if they were, he wouldn't be able to feel the sun this warmly.

"…No." Ed said after a moment.

"Huh," Was Roy's dumbfounded response.

"Are you okay?" Concern was clear in Ed's voice. He sat up, taking Roy's hand with his flesh one.

"…Yeah," Roy said after a minute's pause. "I just can't-."And then the memory hit with the force of a bomb blast.

_"You want him back, do you?" Truth questioned, sneer leaking into its tone._

_"Of course." Roy said as if it were the most obvious thing, looking at Truth as if it were the stupidest thing in all of Creation._

_With a small snap of white fingers, those small shadowy hands appeared. In their grasp was Edward. Roy bit back his anger._

_"For the return of your State Alchemist," the white form gestured to Ed who was being restrained and gagged by the hands, "I shall require your sight."_

_"Take it," he didn't hesitate, didn't pause to consider the consequences. His gaze was focused on Edward who had begun to struggle for freedom. "Just release him first."_

_With another snap, Truth obeyed his demand. Edward fell to the floor on his hands and knees, and Roy rushed forward, scooping him into his arms._

_"C-Colonel?" Edward stammered, disbelieving, and Roy didn't care about correcting his rank. _

_"Do I _look_ like your commanding officer right now, Edward?" Those dark eyes bore into amber ones. So much emotion was held in that gaze as Roy clutched the boy against his chest. _

_"Roy," the blond breathed, arms wrapping around the older man._

_"I thought I'd lost you," Roy's voice was choked with emotion as he held the younger man close to him._

_Ed's body shook with unshed tears. "I was terrified," he confessed, all bravery crumbling away at the sight of his lover._

_A snicker caused both gazes to snap back to the center of the void. "What a touching reunion," Truth's voice was mocking. "But I believe it is time for my payment."_

_Roy's gaze locked back onto Ed. If he was going to give up his sight, he wanted this face to be the last thing he saw. _

_Golden eyes were transfixed as those dark pools of onyx turned to a dark shade of gray. _

_He saw a flicker of red and gold before Roy's world went black._

"It's been three years. You'd think I would've gotten used to this by now," Roy sighed. '_You'll never get used to it,_' his mind whispered.

"I'm sorry." Edward's voice held a weight of sadness.

Roy snapped out of his inner pity party. "Do _not_ blame yourself, Edward." His gunmetal gray eyes were fierce as he looked in the youth's general direction. "I chose to give up my sight to save you. You had no say in the matter."

"But-." The guilt Edward felt was clear in his tone.

"No buts." Roy's voice was firm. He put an end to the discussion by untangling himself from the covers and standing up.

"Where're you going?" At the pout in Ed's voice, Roy debated crawling back into bed for a cuddling session.

The stabbing pain in his head quickly put a halt to those plans. "Coffee," he said, rubbing his temple.

( ) ( ) ( )

**To Be Continued.**

**AN:** I've noticed that there are a lot of fics in which characters lose their sight. I decided, since I'm an actual visually impaired girl, I could write stories like this like… Well, like a boss.


	2. Chapter 2

Roy left the bedroom, fingers trailing along the walls of the hallway in an attempt to guide himself toward the kitchen. The sound of clawed feet bounding across hardwood reached his ears, and a furry head pressed against his leg. He smiled fondly, fingers petting soft fur.

"Wanna go out, Tristan?" He asked the animal conversationally as they entered the kitchen.

The black Labrador barked once, beating his tail in a happy rhythm against Roy's leg. As he passed the patio doors, he slid them open, letting the Guide Dog out into the morning sun. Roy then turned to the counter where the coffee pot was tucked away.

His hands slipped into the familiar routine; cabinet doors were pulled open and the coffee and filters were removed from the top shelf. Phalanges traced various cups on the counter until he found a measuring cup and filled it with water, placing his finger at the rim of the glass to judge the amount of liquid. Four cups of water were dumped into the coffee pot before a filter was tucked into place and filled with four scoops of grounds.

"Remember how stubborn you were in the beginning?"

There was a time when Ed's sudden appearance would've startled him. Now, however, his senses were so finely tuned that he could hear the uneven gait of flesh and automail feet from halfway down the hall.

He gave an indignant snort as he glanced in the general direction of the doorway where the blond's voice was coming from. "Hey, I got over the stubbornness."

Ed chuckled softly, stepping into the kitchen and heading toward the table. "Yeah, after making everyone in your proximity miserable."

Roy's mind shifted as he waited for the coffee to brew. He thought back to that first day, when everyone found out what he'd done.

_After Truth had dumped them unceremoniously back onto the unforgiving floor of the spare bedroom, Roy had spent what the chirping of birds signified as the early hours of dawn making sure that the young man in his arms really was Edward Elric. His fingers tangled in soft, unbound hair and traced around wide eyes and across full lips to finally lace with cool automail fingers._

_He released a breath he hadn't remembered deciding to hold. "You really are my Edward." _

_Edward's response had been to bring his unoccupied flesh hand up to cup Roy's cheek. Deftly, their lips met, moving against each other in a familiar dance. "You're stuck with me, Mustang." He said in a husky murmur that ghosted across Roy's lips._

_ That had been roughly thirty minutes ago. Now, Roy found himself sitting on his bed, listening to Edward rummage through the closet and drawers, searching for Roy's Military uniform. _

_The boy padded over to the bed where Roy was all but cowering in the sea of soft blankets and pillows. "Here," he said, pushing fabric into the older man's hands, "are your pants, shirt, socks and belt." _

_Roy's lips pulled into an unbidden frown. Wordlessly, he stood, pulling off the trousers and shirt from the night before. He had never had talent for dressing in the dark; fingers clumsily pulled on pants that were left unbuttoned and unzipped before he tugged the crisp-feeling shirt over arms and shoulders. His face scrunched in frustration as he tried and failed miserably to push the tiny button through the even tinier hole. _

_Edward made a slight noise of pity in his throat before Roy felt cold steel and flesh fingers tug his own away from the material. "Let me," the boy said softly, making quick work of buttoning the shirt and pants before threading a belt through the loops. He then went in search of the man's boots._

_For the first time in a long while, Roy Mustang felt useless, left to stand, motionless, surrounded by thick walls of darkness._

_( ) ( ) ( )_

_The atmosphere was one of tense gloom as Roy and Ed waded through the crowded streets of Central, Roy's fingers laced firmly with Ed's as the younger man guided him through the sea of movement. The newly appointed Brigadier General knew when they'd reached the gates of Central Command because Ed's grip tightened on his fingers, and he muttered curses under his breath._

_Roy wanted to comfort him _"It'll be okay,"_ he wanted to say. _"They'll be happy for us."_ But reality wasn't so kind, he knew that. _

_Ed gave a deep sigh. "Now or never," he mumbled before tugging the man along. "Let's go," he said finally after a few more steadying breaths._

_Roy could imagine the look on Edward's face, and a small portion of his brain courted the thought that he was glad he couldn't see it. After telling himself what a _stupid _idea that was, he followed after the boy, steps unsure and lacking his usual air of confidence._

_They made their way through long corridors, boots thudding on hard tile floors and echoing down the apparently empty hallway. Getting up the two flights of stairs had been tricky, but Roy, if asked, would proudly say he'd only stumbled a total of four times. Once they had actually reached the office – again that squeezing of fingers signaled their arrival – another few minutes were taken to regain composure._

_"They've no idea," Edward breathed quietly, making Roy strain to hear. "They have no idea I was trapped in the Gate, no idea you pulled me back – what you _sacrificed _to pull me back." His voice was shaky, teetering on hysteria. _

_"Nothing to be done about it now," Roy said, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles over Ed's warm flesh hand. "Not like they could've stopped me had they known," he continued. "They have to find out sooner or later, and it might as well be now."_

_Ed gave a slight nodding jerk of his head before remembering that Roy couldn't see it. "Right, come on, then." And he tugged Roy forward, pushing open the heavy wooden doors._

_Roy's team, from what he could hear outside the door, was a buzz of activity; the hum of conversation, the shuffling of papers, the scratch of pen across paper – it brought a small smile to his lips knowing his platoon wouldn't crumble without their leader. All that activity ceased when Edward leaned forward and poked his head through the door._

_"E-Ed," Furey, the first to find some semblance of his voice, choked disbelievingly. _

_The small plop of what he knew well to be Havoc's cigarette hitting the floor and the feathery sound of Falman's morning paperwork following suit reached Roy's ears. _

_"Edward, how did you – where did you…?" First Lieutenant Hawkeye was at a loss for words, getting as far as standing from the wooden table in the center of the room, looking like she wanted to rush forward and test Edward's tangibility. _

_Roy would've paid good money to see Riza in such a state, he was sure. _

_"Hey, guys," Edward said sounding apologetic and sheepish at the same time. It was a tone not often used by the Fullmetal Alchemist. _

_"H-How," Breda stuttered, synapses firing enough to allow coherent speech, "are you _here_?" _

_Edward exhaled loudly. "It's a long story." With that, he pulled Roy into the room._

_Roy could practically feel the gazes in the room; they went first to his and Ed's clasped hands, then darted to his face, surely about to make some juvenile comment as to how they couldn't keep their hands off each other. He could almost hear the words die on their tongues as he stared at them with unseeing eyes – eyes that Ed informed him were now dark gray._

_"Roy," was the collective gasp throughout the room. No "General," "Sir," or even "Chief." He supposed he could forgive the lack of respect just this once. _

_"A lot has happened," he informed with a small smile aimed in the general direction of his squad. _

_Edward led him to his desk, pulling out the chair and guiding him into the familiar leather. Wordlessly, he released Ed's hand, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin atop them as if all were normal. _

_"I guess we should start with…" And Edward began the tale, explaining his sacrifice to make Alphonse whole again, being held prisoner by Truth and Roy's rescue in detail._

_Silence ascended as the occupants of the room digested this information._

_Roy heard Ed's sharp intake of breath as something occurred to him, and he reached a hand over to clamp down on the man's shoulder._

_"Get the phone," he said, already knowing what Edward was going to ask. "I need you to dial a number," he continued as the phone was slid across the wooden desk._

_Edward obeyed, fingers tripping as they tried to keep up with the numbers rolling off Roy's tongue. His heart was pounding; Roy could feel the pulse from the arm that rested limply on his shoulder. _

_He heard the phone give three muffled rings before Ed gasped out, "Al."_

_There was a slight hum and three short pops before Alphonse's voice, somewhere in the middle of downtown Central, carried over the line. _"…E-Ed? Brother….?"

_"It's me, Al. It's me." Ed's voice was tight, throat clogged with tears. _

"How?"_ Al asked. It seemed to be the question of the day._

_With a stuttering breath and a small cough to dislodge the tears of joy, Edward began the tale again._

"Oh, brother," _Alphonse breathed, and Roy, faintly able to hear the conversation, could hear the emotion in his tone. _"The General really…"_ He trailed off, gratitude that he'd never be able to clearly express in his tone._

_"Yeah," Ed said softly. Then in a more excited tone, "Where are you?"_

"Downtown, in an apartment in Central,"_ Al supplied vaguely. Then Ed heard a muffled, _"Hey, I have a surprise for you," _that clearly wasn't directed at him._

_"Alphonse," Edward said, suspicious. "Who was _that_?" He had an idea, but he wanted to hear his brother say the words._

"Oh, just a friend,"_ he said, knowing his brother would understand._

"You little devil,"_ the elder Elric's tone blazed with approval, impish grin leaking into his voice. _

"I'll fill you in later," _Al said excitedly. _"I'll be there in,"_ he paused, _"twenty minutes. We'll figure things out for the General"

_"Not fast enough," Ed said as the line went dead._

_Roy jerked his head up, unseeing gaze curious. _

_"He'll be here in twenty," Ed informed, placing the phone back in its cradle. He then got up to pace impatiently around the office. _

_( ) _

_Roughly fifteen minutes went by before the heavy wooden doors creaked open and Edward was halted in his pacing by the two figures in the doorway. A joyful amber gaze locked with his own as a caramel-blond rushed forward and all but tackled the boy in a vice-like hug._

_"Al-Alphonse," Edward wheezed, wrapping his arms even tighter around his brother, "c-can't breathe." _

_"Sorry, sorry," Al said, both hurried and apologetic, loosening his grip. Ed, however, didn't follow suit. "Brother," he choked as Ed's grip tightened. _

_"I'm just so glad, you're normal again, Al." Ed said in a broken whisper that was punctuated by a small sniffle._

_"I'm glad you're back, Ed," the younger Elric said in the same fashion. _

_"I-It's really… you." The shaky statement pulled both boys to the form that huddled in the doorway, grasping the wooden frame as if to keep balanced._

_"Winry," Ed exhaled. That was all it took to send the girl running, speeding into Ed's open arms with a squeal of joy._

_"Where have you been?" She demanded, blue eyes brimming with tears as she released the boy, hands feeling for a tool belt and wrench that she thankfully didn't have._

_And Ed began his tale once more for his childhood friend's benefit, going over to the desk to stand by Roy who looked a bit lost, bewildered by the reunion._

_Winry, predictably, gushed over the romanticism of Roy's sacrifice, claiming that this was the kind of story Roy and Ed would tell their future children. "And you _will_ have them, you hear me? Adopted, naturally."_

_"Not that I wouldn't love to father them myself," Roy said with a smirk that widened at the flustered sounds his lover made. "But, alas, it would be impossible." He sighed dramatically, enjoying Ed's reactions even though he couldn't see them._

_"You could always try," Alphonse suggested gleefully. "Bet it would be fun." Edward spewed death threats to all members of the room, whether they participated in the conversation or not, as Al informed Roy, "He's blushing."_

_"Don't we have more important things to discuss?" Edward snapped, glaring at Winry, scowling at Al, and giving a small punch to Roy's shoulder._

_"Right," Al said, getting back to business. "We need to focus on the General."_

_Roy found that he didn't like hearing Al use such an impersonal title. "Roy," he stated firmly._

_Everyone, even the members of Roy's squad who had been doing their best to get _some_ work done, looked up at that. _

_"Excuse me?" Alphonse squeaked, not knowing why the thought of using the General's first name was such a hard thing to imagine._

_"My name," the man said slowly, looking in the direction of Al's voice, "is Roy. We _are_ basically family after all." And something in his body practically melted at that thought._

_"Uh, right," the younger boy mumbled. "Um. We need to come up with a plan to get… Roy's," and he was rewarded when the man smiled at his hesitant attempt, "life back to normal."_

_"You _can_ have a normal life, Roy," Winry said, the use of the man's first name easier for her. "It's just going to take some adapting."_

_"What's the first step?" Edward asked. He moved from his spot on the arm of Roy's swivel chair momentarily to get a pen and paper from the desk drawer. He wanted a solid list, it would make things easier._

_"I have some contacts at Central Hospital," Winry said. "I could talk to them, see what they suggest."_

_"Contacts?" Edward asked incredulously. "What contacts? You've been here for fuckin'…" he paused in thought. "A week, if that."_

_A smirk coated Winry's voice. "The Rockbell name is well known," was all she gave in answer to the alleged contacts._

_"Fine, whatever," Ed waved it away. "Next?"_

_"I'll take a trip to Central Library," Al supplied, "to see if there's reference to ways to make his life easier. There are ways to cope without sight, y'know; braille covers the aspect of reading, then there are Guide Dogs and cane skills for mobility. Stuff like that."_

_"They have people to teach that?" Ed asked, curious as he wrote his brother's words onto the paper._

_"I'm sure the library, or somewhere else, will have records of that." Al nodded sagely, standing from the couch and pulling Winry up with him._

_"So… What do I do?" Ed pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, chewing worriedly._

_Knowing his brother wouldn't like the prospect of sitting still, being of no help, he worded his sentence carefully. "Stay here with Roy. We'll take care of all the footwork."_

_Edward had a protest on the tip of his tongue, but Roy's fingers searching for his stopped him. "Alright," he said softly, grasping the older man's searching hand. _

_With a fond smile from Al and a mumble about the "love between two souls" from Winry, the two exited the room. After the door clicked shut, the room was filled with the scratch of pen on paper. _

_Roy and Ed sat in silence, reeling in the early morning events. _

( ) ( ) ( )

**To Be Continued**

**AN: **Sorry for the ri-goddamn-diculously long wait. Let's hope I don't make it a habit with this story like so many others.


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